Fig. 4

Inhibition of the proliferation and bone formation of normal human chondrocytes caused by ISS exosomes was significantly improved after miR-26b-3p was downregulated. A The expression of miR-26b-3p was significantly suppressed by siRNA. B CCK8 assay showed a significant improvement in the inhibition of chondrocyte proliferation caused by ISS exosomes after downregulation of miR-26b-3p. C Flow cytometric analysis demonstrated an improvement in cell cycle progression after downregulation of miR-26b-3p. D–G Western blot and RT-qPCR analyses revealed a significant improvement in the expression of chondrocyte hypertrophic differentiation markers (collagen type X and RUNX2) as well as osteogenic genes (OCN and OPN) after downregulation of miR-26b-3p. H The activity of ALP was enhanced after downregulation of miR-26b-3p. The data are presented as the mean ± SD. n = 3. Two groups were compared using T-test or three groups were compared using ANOVA followed by Tukey’s test. **P < 0.01, ns, not significant vs. control